"Did you ever crack open your lunchbox as a kid at school on a Monday and find yourself wondering how the classic contents — ham and cheese on white bread, bag of chips, M&Ms — became the mega-popular snacks that they are today? You can thank the U.S. military for most of those.

For the last century, America's many wars abroad have necessitated the development of long-lasting yet nutritious foods that can keep troops happy and healthy with minimal cost. The innovative processing and preservation methods pioneered by military food scientists didn't stay within the military: According to Anastacia Marx de Salcedo's 2015 book Combat-Ready Kitchen: How the U.S. Military Shapes the Way You Eat those once-utilitarian culinary designs became staples of civilian culture, so far that there's "[a] military history of practically everything you buy at the supermarket."

Task & Purpose did a little digging to serve up some of the best everyday food items that got their start in the U.S. military. What we found was, well, delicious…"Main pagelink

When I was little, an old friend of the family who had fought during WW1, always used to say that dog biscuits were invented by the military, but that they started off as being for the soldiers' consumption and not for dogs.

I always thought he meant that as a joke. So perhaps he wasn't joking then?